Blink-182 [ARCHIVED] Band • Page 794

Sigh, damn media always trying to rain on our parade.

Still over here enjoying blink without Tom and am in no hurry to have him back. Long Live Skiba.

 

I feel like they'd skip over 90% of that album live just like they do with Neighborhoods. I can see them keeping Bored to Death and that's it

 

I can hear him in "Bored to Death" already.

"...'er's a strangurrr, stairuh at a ceilin'"

But seriously, this is the biggest problem with him ever coming back. They would have to completely omit everything from California from the live shows. If he can't sing or play guitar to his own songs, there's no way he's going to be committed to learning someone else's songs and actually performing them anywhere near correctly. Best I could ever see from him is a greatest hits tour or maybe an album anniversary tour.

 

Unless they can't because it does so well. Fingers crossed there's four huge hits and Tom never comes back because his ego wouldn't allow him to perform those songs lol.

 

I've been a long time lurker since the APnet days and finally decided to get a user name and join the discussions.

Anyway I've been a big blink fan since 1998 and since Friday I've been listening to California non stop and I love it. Yes I did my best to avoid the leaks which was easy with a 3 month old and barely any free time after work. It's not their best album by any means (I'd probably rank it 4th behind Self Titled, Enema, and TOYPAJ) but it's really enjoyable. I can only really see myself skipping 1 or 2 songs. I really love the new line up (I'm also a huge Alkaline Trio/Matt Skiba fan) and really like Mark's and Matt's vocals on the album.

Really hope they play 5 or 6 new songs on this tour not counting the two joke songs they have been playing. I'd love to hear them play Cynical, Sober, No Future (just because Skiba's vocals on that song are killer), She's Out of Her Mind and Left Alone. Obviously we're going to get Bored to Death and Rabbit Hole. I also hope they switch up the set a bit too but I guess we will find out tonight what the tour set list is going to be like.

 

I finally listened to the record and I am definitely a fan. Sober could be a hit on the radio and definitely get played at bars.

 

I could see "Sober" being a hit, but I could also see it being kinda shitty live... Mark sings really high in that song, and as we know with "Bored To Death", singing that high isn't generally something he can pull off very well. It would definitely be hit or miss.

 

I think it'd be good live, and there's sure potential for crowd involvement in that song

 

I actually don't think it's that high. The reason I say that is because I usually have the same (shitty) register as Mark so all of the songs that strains his voice also strain mine. haha. "Sober" has some accented high notes (when he says "dandelion"), but it's generally in an easier range. "Bored to Death" is a lot of sustained high notes. It sucks.

 

I definitely can't imagine Mark's voice being that great when it's the high notes and only drums backing him. Oh well I hope this tour incorporates a lot of this album

 

I know that She's Out of Her Mind will probably be the next single, but I really think Sober would do better. I know they do their research on things, but I can't help but think that people would really love those NaNa's and could see it becoming a fun party/drinking song for the college/high school crowd who only know a few blink songs as of now.

Ultimately, I trust their research though.

 

I'd even be fine with them taking out all of the "deep cuts" that they normally play in exchange for California songs, if they don't want to cut any of their singles and stick to their 90 minute sets.

 

I agree. "She's Out Of Her Mind" is definitely really catchy and a typical 2001-era Blink sounding song, but I could see "Sober" having more of a mass appeal.

 

I think She's Out of Her Mind is like the All The Small Things of the record which I think even Jason Tate commented about. I think it's a great summer pop sing along feel good song that would do really well on the radio, which is what blink is looking for right now.

I definitely think Sober or even Home Is Such a Lonely place would/could be the 3rd single though.

 

Ugh people.

Guy on one of their Facebook posts: This isn't blink! Toms EP sounded more like blink!

Other guy: Um how so?

OP: This sounds like +44!

Other guy: why?

OP: Marks voice!

Me: .....*gives a detailed comparison of how musically the only thing the bands have in common is marks voice and how musically structured this is more blink then +44 and as someone who use to like tom can even admit that*

OP: Yawn are you done with your useless rant?

....I hate people sometimes lol

 

I mean... Plus 44 basically just sounded like Blink?

 

Lol and according to him marks vocals means +44. He did also result to calling my 'opinion'(which was actually just an analysis) gay so that shows his comprehension levels

 

So by his logic, songs like The Rock Show and What's My Age Again sound like +44 because of Mark's voice? I lost patience with these idiots a while ago. I just call them out on their bs now.

 

The only thing you have to say is that this is FUN music. Neither AvA or +44 have any fun songs, honestly. That's why it is blink-182 at its core.

Or, even better, just agree that it's not really blink.... So what? It's still a million times better than anything Tom's been involved with in over a decade. The name hardly means anything.

 

I found some of +44 and AVA(early stuff) fun but not as fun as this I agree. And while your point is true, to me this still feels 100% blink to me. But yeah arguing with the guy is irrelevant in hindsight lol

 

Agreed!

 

So, thoughts:

There are two types of "good album", albums with lots of good individual songs and albums that form a cohesive whole; this one is definitely the former. Not to say that that's a problem, but lyrically and musically California is basically a throw-everything-see-what-sticks album, like Zebrahead's Phoenix or Linkin Park's Minutes to Midnight.

Vast majority of the album (three quarters or so) does stick. Really catchy, really fun, surprisingly touching in places. The highlights for me are No Future, SHOHM, San Diego, and Only Thing That Matters, but rather like with e.g. New Found Glory's Radiosurgery I could see most of the songs on the album getting rotation in my playlist (and could see most of them being released as a single). The joke songs actually work quite well. funnily enough - Built This Pool lightens the tone just before No Future and Brohemian Rhapsody, while a waste of a good riff, definitely works better for the absurdity of the harmonised vocals.

Matt allayed all my fears that he would be in the background and ignored (generated by the Mark-heavy marketing) and then some. Please keep him.

Lowlight: Sober doesn't work. Sorry. It sounds like a mediocre Fall Out Boy song without the things that make Fall Out Boy interesting and the "na-na-nas" are close to self-parody.

A few songs (e.g. Cynical, Rabbit Hole) suffer from the same problem of the Green Day trilogy, namely that they clearly went "eh, it's just a fun song, first draft will do, let's move on to something else" and could have done with a little more development, I think. ("You are the coldest stone-carved marble faces"... eh?) That's not to say they're bad, just not particularly special either.

I'd give it 4 stars, I think. Given I was expecting to only enjoy the singles, I'm pleased to be surprised by this album. I can't wait to see what this configuration can put out in future.

Addendum: nothing personal, but I hope they work with a different producer next time. I think Feldmann was good for the songwriting process in a lot of ways and he clearly helped Mark, but A) this is not the first Feldmann album (thinking especially of Sounds Good Feels Good) where cutting some songs in pre-production would have helped and B) I think his sound is limiting at times, such as on Home Is Such a Lonely Place, which sounds almost exactly like something off Future Hearts.

 

Haha well it's pointless because the people don't realize it's either this or nothing, as far as new blink goes. If you think that "new blink-182" only exists with Tom, you're never going to get it. And if we did, it would be another half-assed, self-produced release.

On that note, that seems like what "Hey, I'm Sorry" is about. Saying he lost the melody/memory and that line about "two more years of unemployment" seems like it's about blink's inactivity.

 

To be fair Feldmann wanted eleven songs, and Travis basically said fuck that we're doing what we want and Feldmann deferred to him. (Think this was said in Fuse's track-by-track with John.) Another example of people's fears being unfounded that Feldmann would just take control of everything.

 

Cynical is a great song in my opinion